The present invention relates to user interfaces and more particularly to a user interface for utilizing a data management application.
People who use computer systems and networks often need to look up information about the system they are using. Traditionally, information was stored in books and manuals, which were often kept physically near to the computer. If a user needed to look up information, he turned to a single sourcexe2x80x94the paper manuals stored conveniently nearby.
Currently, however, the amount of technical information available about a given computer system can be very large and can be stored at a wide variety of sources. Information is often provided to customers in xe2x80x9conlinexe2x80x9d form, dispensing entirely with paper copies. This online information includes online databases, CD ROM databases, proprietary help systems, and online manuals. Large amounts of technical information are also available from third party online sources and from sources such as the World Wide Web.
Amid an apparent wealth of online information, people still have problems finding the information they need. Online information retrieval may have problems including those related to inappropriate user interface designs and to poor or inappropriate organization and structure of the information. Storage of information online in a variety of forms leads to certain information retrieval problems, several of which are described below.
The existence of a variety of information sources leads to the lack of a unified information space. An xe2x80x9cinformation spacexe2x80x9d is the set of all sources of information that is available to a user at a given time or setting. When information is stored in many formats and at many sources, a user is forced to spend too much xe2x80x9coverheadxe2x80x9d on discovering and remembering where different information is located (e.g., online technical books, manual pages (xe2x80x9cmanpagesxe2x80x9d), release notes, help information, etc.). The user also spends a large amount of time remembering how to find information in each delivery mechanism. Thus, it is difficult for the user to remember where potentially relevant information might be, and the user is forced to jump between multiple different online tools to find it.
The existence of a variety of information sources leads to information strategies that lack cohesion. Users currently must learn to use and remember a variety of metaphors, user interfaces, and searching techniques for each delivery mechanism and class of information. No one type of interface suits all users. Furthermore, a user may need different types of searching techniques and interfaces, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the specific information needed.
The existence of a variety of information sources leads to lack of links between sources of information. Conventional delivery mechanisms often support only loosely structured navigation, such as keyword search or hyperlinks. Such mechanisms provide the user with only a local organization of information instead of providing a global picture of the information space.
The existence of a variety of information sources leads to frustration if the information uses a wide variety of terms or uses terms not familiar to the user. In addition, users employ concepts and terms differently than technical writers and authors. Conventional delivery mechanisms often rely on a keyword search as a primary means of finding information. If the user""s vocabulary does not sufficiently overlap with indices employed by a delivery mechanism, a keyword search will result in a high percentage of disappointing and frustrating xe2x80x9cterm misses.xe2x80x9d The only recovery method for a failed keyword search is simply to guess at better query.
The existence of a variety of information sources leads to titles and descriptions of the information that are not intuitive to a user. Users often conceptually group and describe problems differently than do information organizers and writers. If, for example, a user does not know the title of a book or the name of a database, he may not be able to find the information stored therein.
As computer systems become more complex and as sources of online information proliferate, it becomes more and more difficult for users to locate the information they need. Even worse, users may not always be aware of all the existing sources of information. Moreover, certain users may not use certain sources of information, even though they are aware of them, if they are not familiar with the interface or find it too difficult to use.
A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for providing a user interface for a data management application that extracts data from several data sources across an enterprise, optionally in a secure environment. First, a user is allowed to input a search query. Data items found during a search based on the query are received and displayed in nodes arranged in a tree format. A portion of the data items are hyper linked to detailed views of the data items. Such a detailed view may be created by opening the item or displaying an abstract of the item. A detailed view of one of the hyper linked data items is displayed upon selection of the one of the hyper linked data items by the user. The selected hyper linked data items are added to a history list. This feature can include not only a displayable listing of the data items but also use of a xe2x80x9cbackxe2x80x9d button.
In one aspect of the present invention, selection of a type of search is allowed. Types of searches include searches by person, document, topic, project, and/or client. The data items that are displayed are limited to those matching the selected type of search. As an option, each item found during the search is categorized and marked with an icon that represents the category. Further, the data items may be sorted by one or more categories including person, client, and/or topic
Preferably, a portion or all of the nodes expand to display additional data and/or subnodes upon selection. Also preferably, a user is allowed to save data items in a bookmark list for later retrieval by opening the bookmark list and selecting a data item saved in the bookmark list.